DD12 & Eva Go Purple/ Audrey's Birthday!

Wyatt's MRI shows that a majority of his large tumor has been successfully removed! The rest is going to be taken care of with the chemotherapy that he is getting twice a day. Tomorrow, he is getting an MIBG scan to see what other tumors there are. His mom says that there are two more that the doctors know of. His breathing apparatus will also be taken out and he will be taken off sedation! GO TEAM WYATT!

       This purple business has spread beyond just eyeshadow!! Today, we have two other ladies supporting Wyatt by going purple. Those feet belong to my sister, DD12!! Purple socks for that girl!!
   Next, my UK friend, Eva, is wearing purple lipstick!! I also need to give her some of that extra credit, she is wearing a Ramones t-shirt!! You know and I know, the Ramones rock!! We lost Johnny and Joey to cancer. Prostate and lymphoma, respectively.
       I also want to mention that it is Audrey Hepburn's birthday. We lost her to Appendiceal Cancer, which goes to show you that nothing is fair. Audrey did so much to help people, she knew what it was like to suffer, so she decided to help others in need. The woman was awesome!! She would've been 86. I chose a purple tinted Audrey photo I found on Google, to stick with the theme here. But I know, she probably would've gone purple too, because Audrey was an awesome and very helpful person. Happy Birthday, Mrs. Hepburn!
     I will include a link to a website, you can learn about what her foundation does, who they help and what Audrey did for UNICEF!! It makes me misty to read of all the wonderful things she did, as I get misty anytime I read about any truly helpful person who decides to make a difference!! http://www.ahepburn.com/ahcf.html
 

The Audrey Quest Part Six: "The Nun's Story.

      Last night, I finished another Audrey movie! Took me two days. It was 152 minutes. The movie I am talking about is "The Nun Story", which was made in 1959. Audrey plays an upper class girl, Gabrielle living in Belgium in 1930. She decides to become a nun.
    The movie follows her training at the convent, where she changes her name to Sister Luke. As a nun, she works in hospitals, her main goal is to go to the Congo to help there. Unfortunately, she has to work at a mental institution before she can get there. Oh! Colleen Dewhurst played a mental patient there, very brief. Before "Ice Castles"!!
     Sister Luke is constantly being tested. When she gets to the Congo, she can't even help out in the African hospitals as she had hoped, she has to work in the European hospital, with Dr. Fortunati, played by Peter Finch. I feel so bad at this point, Sister Luke is always in surgery and she looks SO EXHAUSTED!! Crazy bags under her eyes. She also gets sick, whilst in the Congo. Then she is to be sent back to Belgium. It is now war time, things begin to change drastically and.....You go see it!!
      I thought this was very fascinating, I was not in the slightest bit bored, I have always had a fascination with nuns. I believe you can see some similarities between Audrey and her Sister Luke character, they both went places and helped a lot of people! Audrey did a lot for UNICEF. She only got $1:00 for doing it, she did not want money, she just wanted to help!  That is one of the many reasons why Miss Audrey Hepburn is so amazing.
      So, I recommend this, it's pretty educational, if one would like to learn about nun life in the 1930s. I am probably going to check out "The Singing Nun" movie too, that sounds pretty intriguing. What movies have you seen lately? Let me know! PS, I leave you with a very nice photo of Audrey and a baby, in the Congo.

The Audrey Quest Part Five: "Charade".

    Today's Audrey movie is "Charade". This is one I have rented and renewed at least three times and never got around to watching it, don't know why!! So I decided to just get it over with, so I can have something to wrote about. Sorry for missing a day, I would have finished the movie yesterday, had it not been so late at night!!

   "Charade" came out in 1963. Reggie Lambert is played by Audrey Hepburn, a woman who goes skiing in the Alps. There, she meets a man, played by Cary Grant. This man's name is Peter Joshua---OR IS IT? (Cue suspense music, dun, dun DAAAA!)

   Upon returning home from her ski trip, Reggie finds her home ransacked and removed of all belongings, she finds out that her husband is dead! Not only this, but apparently, her husband had a fortune (unbeknowest to Reggie) and a gang of no goods are on the hunt for it! They think that she has it, now she is in trouble. So Peter decides to help her. This triggers a series of very strange events (see for yourself) and Peter Joshua is not who he says he is. Is this man a Peter, an Alexander, an Adam, or possibly a Brian? I feel so bad for Audrey in this movie because the woman is being confused, yet again.  I shall leave you in the dark about the rest of this caper.

     The score was done by Henry Mancini. Mancini did a lot of Audrey movie scores (see "Breakfast At Tiffany's", "Wait Until Dark") and it is very good. I am really growing fond of his beautiful sound tracks, the man is up there in my book with Herb Alpert!

   This is an interesting film, not only is it suspenseful and stylish (all Audrey movies are full of classy style), but it can be funny at parts too. Not a lot, but very subtle. Audrey wears more Givenchy, it seems that Givenchy did a lot of her movie wardrobes. If it is not broken, why fix it? :)

 This is back when women used to dress nice when they went put. Of course nice these days is having all your clothes on in a decent non messy fashion, nice is not pajama pants and a sweatshirt in public. But back then, nice happened when the ladies wore their hats and gloves. That went out in the 70s, I believe. I don't think I have seen any later photos of Audrey in gloves. I guess she wore them when they were in.

   I often wonder, if Audrey was born in the age of Dakota Fanning and Jennifer Lawrence, what kind of movies would she have been in? Thank God she was born when she was, things might have been quite different! What do you think? Let me know!

The Audrey Quest Part Four: "Wait Until Dark".

    I must say, "Wait Until Dark" was one of the most suspenseful older movies that I have ever seen. It was released in 1967, another stage play turned into a movie. Susy Hendrix is played by Audrey Hepburn. Susy has recently been blinded due to some accident and is trying to adapt as well as she can.
   One day, while her husband is out, three criminals (played by Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna and Jack Weston) come looking for a doll stuffed with drugs. One of their associates had given it to Susy's husband (who is out for the day) and they want it back.
   So they take advantage of her blindness by weaving a whole web of lies and disguises for her to believe, and she gets terrorized by Alan Arkin's character. My sister and I were saying, Alan Arkin was really "bringing the beans" on this. Which is our little thing for "that's some good acting right there", he actually creeped me out, even though I saw him in a bunch of nice guy roles! Apparently, he was one of the only ones who would take the role of Roat because most did not want to terrorize Audrey Hepburn on screen!
    This movie has one of the coolest jump scare scenes near its climatic ending---but I'm gonna let you see for yourself!! I'm just gonna say it is cool and Bravo Alan Arkin! Apparently,  a lot of movie goers were shocked by it, they screamed in the theater! Well, it was 1967, this was a pretty new concept.
    Audrey Hepburn did wonderfully as a blind lady. She did not even want foggy lenses for her eyes. Her hair is shorter in this one.
   In the trailer, they tagged on a warning. For the last 8 minutes of the movie, they would darken the theater to the maximum legal limit. All smokers should not light up, as to not disturb the effect. Very cool.
   Robby Benson was in the beginning as a boy playing ball. I had to go back to see it. You can't really see him close up, it was kinda far. But still, very neat!! I like the use of natural lighting in this movie. It's a good one! Here is a photo of Alan Arkin and Audrey near the end of the movie., Thanks Google! Go and check it out!! :)

The Audrey Quest Part Three: "Breakfast At Tiffany 's."

   This Is a movie that I have wanted to see for years. This is the perfect time, as I am on the Audrey Quest! "Breakfast At Tiffany's" was a 1961 movie based on the novella by Truman Capote.
   Audrey Hepburn plays Holly Golightly, a call girl socialite type who becomes attracted to her neighbour, Paul Varjak, played by George Peppard. Paul is a writer. Paul also finds out that Holly is not exactly who she says she is.....that's all I am going to say.
   The plot is a little confusing, it took a little while to see what it was really about. The opening scene has Audrey is a black evening gown and jewellry, eating breakfast in front of the fancy store, Tiffany's. She looked so out of place being so elegant yet, eating a Danish from a paper bag, with long gloves!! Now, eating in front of some high class store, is probably something I would do, after all, I try on fur coats in thrift stores just to look in the mirror and imagine myself ritzy, Ha Ha. Apparently, Audrey Hepburn does not like danishes.
   One of the oddest aspects of this movie is that Mickey Rooney, a totally Irish guy, plays Holly's Asian neighbour. Of course he wore a ton of makeup. I love Mickey Rooney, but I don't know why they couldn't get an actual Asian guy instead of making a stereotypical caricature.
    In this movie, Audrey actually did her own singing for "Moon River"! When she plays the guitar, you notice how long her fingers are. Wow! The only thing that was dubbed for her in this movie was her whistle. She could not do the two fingered whistle. Neither can I!! This is another movie where she plays a 19 year old and she is in her 30s, couldn't tell the differance!
   Her outfits were gorgeous in this movie. One thing I loved most was getting to see NYC. I've always wanted to go. One day I will! So, even though I could not understand a lot of it, I highly recommend it because everyone says you should see it. Plus, Audrey Hepburn is awesome and that is another reason!!! Stay tuned!

The Audrey Quest Part Two: "Funny Face".

   Part Two!! YES! Last night, I stayed up late to watch this sweet movie from 1957, "Funny Face"! Maggie Prescott (played by Kay Thompson) is an editor for a fashion magazine who is looking for the next big trend. Fred Astaire plays her photographer, Dick Avery. Together, they decide to find a nice gritty city backdrop for their model to pose against, so in a spur of the moment, they head to Greenwich Village and land in a book store.
    There, they find Jo Stafford (Audrey Hepburn) a girl working there. With their crew, they turn the place upside down, much to Jo's dismay. After, Dick stays behind to help Jo clean up, he likes what he sees and thinks that she could be a model in their magazine. I'm not going to give the rest away, but it is another "Transformation Audrey" movie, where they turn her into a fashion model. But she still remains a beatnik learning about philosophy, in her heart.
   There are a lot of great songs in this. AUDREY DOES ALL OF HER SINGING! No dubs here. "How Long Has This Been Going On?" Is fantastic and is one of my favorites. I heard Julie Andrews and Jerry Lewis do it first though. "Funny Face" is a cute song. "Think Pink" is really fab because they colored the movie so well!! Pink shampoo and toothpaste!!
   But my favorite scenes featured Kay Thompson. Before this movie, all I knew about Kay was that she wrote the "Eloise" books (LOVE, LOVE THEM!) And that she was Liza Minnelli's godmother. She is so cool in this! Her singing is great. "Clap Yo' Hands" was super.
  I also dug the scene at the cafe where Audrey dances. Also at the cafe, they have this jazzy instrumental rendition of "How Long Has This Been Going On?" As backround music, which I thought was pretty sweet. Maybe I should listen to some more jazz. Ok. Question of the day: What is your favorite musical and why?

The Audrey Quest Part 1: "My Fair Lady".

   A quest to see all Audrey Hepburn movies is what I have taken up. My Dad being the fan that he is, introduced me to "My Fair Lady" when I was teeny tiny, so I decided to watch it over, I forgot how it ended!!
   "My Fair Lady" stars Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle, a girl who sells flowers in markets and Rex Harrison, as a wealthy teacher of phonetics, Proffessor Henry Higgins. After meeting Miss Doolittle and being appalled by her speech patterns, he boasts that he can turn her into a respectable lady in months.
   So the Proffessor embarks on the journey of trying to rid Eliza of her working class, Cockney accent. I won't give the whole plot away. "My Fair Lady" was originally a musical on the stage, starring Julie Andrews. Most of Audrey's vocals were dubbed by Marni Nixon, who also dubbed vocals on "West Side Story" (note to self, must see that one too). I really enjoyed seeing all of the pretty Victorian dresses and picture hats!! Amazing how elegant the World used to be.
    I was quite surprised to find out that Audrey Hepburn was actually 35 when she played Eliza, who was in her very early 20s! Could have fooled me, she is so pretty. It took me three days to watch it because I usually watch TV late at night.
  I have had "Wouldn't It Be Loverly" in my head all morning! One of my favorite parts is when Eliza throws slippers at the Proffessor. Also when she finally grasps the brand new speaking pattern! Oddly enough, my Dad bought his video copy on Easter of 1993, and I rented the DVD from the library the day before Easter! He tells me he must have seen it 30 times, yes it is a fantastic musical, go out and rent it! If you have seen it, what is your favorite part? What is your favorite musical number? Let me know in the comments below! Here is a photo of Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison that I found on Google.